In Martin Luther’s theses 1-4 he challenges the church’s sacrament of confession, or repentance. Instead of the traditional Catholic ritual of professing sins to clergy then being saved through the verbal act, Luther claims that repentance is an inner process done throughout ones lifetime. The salvation that repentance produces, according to Luther comes from a life of inner peace, or through faith in God. This approach is more personal than the channel using using a pope or bishop to commune with God one’s sins.

Luther in these theses is reflecting on the Pope’s lavish personal use of indulgences. After Luther spent time in the monastery he made a pilgrimage to Rome. There he was shocked at how the use of money was being used by the church to support hunting homes and the grandiose lifestyles of clergy members. The lessons that he learned in the monastery regarding renunciation from all material goods, was being disregarded blatantly. In theses 43-45 Luther specifically brings attention to the Christian philosophy of giving to the poor as good, versus giving money to the Pope for indulgences which are fabricated by the church itself. Referencing Luke specifically, the New Testament places emphasis on giving to those in need. The Pope is asking for the exact opposite, more money to fill the empty coffers of the wealthy clergy members.. Indulgences were sold for salvation and freedom from purgatory. Luther in his talking points 83-84  renounces purgatory by calling out the use of funerals to make money for the church. The state of the dead is a tool to “build new churches” and exploits the friends and relatives of the dead who could be in a state of traumatic mourning.

Luther continually backs his theology using the Bible as reference and God, Christ, as the Word- above the Pope. The Pope, and tradition have no authority over scripture, which is true and pre-dates the Church. The Pope is threatened by Luther’s claims because if valid, then there would be no need for his position. He responds through the publication of the Papal Bull, “Exsurge Domine”, a document spread throughout German territories demanding Luther’s publications to be burned and Luther himself to “submit to Roman authority”(Gonzalez, 33). The actual document reached Luther after reaching many of the territories first, and by the time it was delivered Luther took it and burned it publicly with other false publications of the Pope.